Robyn Benincasa is the founder of World Class Teams, a world champion adventure racer, a CNN Hero, former corporate sales expert and a full time firefighter who advises organizations on building World Class Teams of their own. One of the highest rated female speakers who regularly shares the stage with world leaders and business icons, her customers include many Fortune companies like Starbucks, Deloitte, Aflac, Fast Company, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, ARAMARK, Siemens, 3M, Coldwell Banker, Ameriprise, Microsoft, AT&T. With a background in marketing, she was previously in corporate sales with Baxter and Allergan and is currently a full-time firefighter. World Champion Eco-Challenge Adventure Racer, CNN Hero, Founder of the Project Athena Foundation (Survivors to Athletes!), 3x Guinness World Record Distance Paddler and proud owner of 2 metal ‘bionic hips’, Robyn definitely knows a thing or two about creating Human Synergy – “that magic that allows groups of ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things together.” Her New York Times best-selling book How Winning Works, published by Harlequin, has been reviewed as “an excellent resource for all business owners on approaching challenges with a team mentality.”
For the last 20 years, she and her teammates have been competing at the front of the pack in the most unique and compelling classrooms on earth–The jungles of Borneo, the Himalayan peaks of Tibet, the rivers of Fiji, the rainforests of Ecuador and the desert of Namibia, studying the good, the bad, and the not-so-pretty in extreme teamwork and mastering the skills required to inspire a group of semi-exhausted people through a seemingly endless series of checkpoints, in pursuit of a seemingly impossible goal, working against crazy deadlines, in constantly changing conditions and all in pursuit of a huge hairy audacious goal (sounds a lot like your life as a business leader, right?)
It is through these harrowing, life affirming and often hilarious experiences in the world’s most grueling challenges that she has emerged with her refreshing and truly unique perspective on what it takes to build the kind of World Class Teams that succeed against all odds, that triumph in the face of adversity and that win as one in times of great challenge and change. Whether you’re trying to beat the competition to market, scale a looming mountain of a project or simply get your team all marching in the same direction, Robyn’s 8 Essential Elements of Human Synergy will coach you to the finish line of success.
NBC, ABC, CNN, ESPN, USA Network, The Today Show, Live With Regis, Dateline NBC, The Discovery Channel, Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Runners World and Outside Magazine have all featured Robyn and her teams’ amazing accomplishments. And Robyn accepts full blame for inspiring people to do insane things like climb Mount Kilimanjaro, run their first triathlon, start their own adventure racing teams, hike across the Grand Canyon with a group of Survivors, or start their own businesses.
This is, after all, who she is and what she does: Robyn Benincasa inspires people to grab life with one hand, grab their teammates with the other, and to create that special magic that makes all of us better together than we ever would have been alone!
Robyn Benincasa brings her stories from a lifetime of Adventure Racing to your leadership teams to show how real champions lead the change instead of adapting to it.
In today’s fast-paced environment, you can’t afford to follow industry trends and customer expectations— you must lead them. So how can you build a culture focused on relentlessly changing the game while creating what’s next? How can you encourage people to not only survive change but to inspire it?
Robyn’s World Champion Adventure Racing Team—among the most prolific and consistent winners in the sport for the last 20 years. Her team consistently found a better and more efficient way through the course, used materials in a more creative and game-changing way, and built a truly world-class team that not only shared strengths but shared challenges from start to finish.
Her stories take audiences on 60-mile, open-ocean paddles in native canoes, through rural Nepalese villages on broken-down bikes, jerry-rigging canoes in Ecuador, and jumping into white water rapids in Borneo. Through it all, Robyn and her team led the contests through innovation that changed the game. It was never about what the rule book said, and always about what it didn’t say. She translates this mentality for business alike, giving you tangible takeaways to lead your industry.
In this exciting keynote, you will learn how the best and brightest champions consistently LEAD change versus simply reacting and responding to it.
“Robyn was AWESOME!… everyone really enjoyed her talk. In fact on our meeting evaluation, there were many comments from the attendees that noted Robyn as one of the BEST speakers they ever heard. She was really dynamic. Many of the attendees stayed behind to speak with her directly and she was very gracious with her time. Great, great speaker and overall great person.”
“Robyn, thanks for an amazing presentation this morning in NJ! We’ve seen many motivational presentations, but nothing like yours. I am truly inspired, and hope that I can implement even just a fraction of what you’ve brought us in both my personal and professional life. I have a whole new perspective on teamwork, and the human connections. Thank you. (and good luck in your upcoming quests!)”
“…It’s been just over a year since we did that meeting with you and people still talk about being the best teambuilding meeting we’ve ever held.”
“I would be honored to recommend Robyn Benincasa as a keynote speaker for any of your clients. Robyn is a captivating, dynamic speaker with a style that it is both approachable and extremely compelling. While adventure racing and Robyn’s exploits are clearly larger-than-life, she is so natural and unassuming that her audiences are readily inspired and eager to put her lessons to work.”
“Let me say that the feedback we received on your presentation was nothing short of stellar. I have heard a number of motivational speakers and there always seems to be some naysayers. There was not a single dissatisfied customer in this group. People shared that they felt inspired. Many of your messages were repeated throughout the next few days, coming from our President and CEO to my colleagues in the field alike. I can think of no finer form of flattery. It proved to be a perfect program that set a tremendous tone for the rest of our days together.”
“Thank you again for making us look like geniuses, your presentation was a hit!!! The feedback was tremendous, the best part of the meeting.”
“Robyn was awesome. She was very energetic and got the audience involved. She had a great message that she presented in an entertaining way.”
“Robyn was awesome as usual. She is always such a pleasure to work with and really drives home the message to our attendees.”
“Book Robyn Benincasa!! She is excellent. And everything needed in a keynote speaker. She’s engaging, lively, brilliant, interesting, and even tugs on the heartstrings of the audience. She’s incredible and we only received positive feedback from our audience.”
